MUSKEGON COUNTY — A Muskegon judge has convicted a 24-year-old Muskegon Heights man of unlawful imprisonment, car theft and unarmed robbery for a Walmart shoplifting that turned into a terrifying experience for a pregnant young mother.

After a half-day bench trial, Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge Timothy G. Hicks on Friday found

Roosevelt Park police said the incident began at 8:15 a.m. April 22 after security guards working at the Walmart at 3267 Henry saw a man steal items and hide them under his jacket.

When the guards approached the man, he dropped the items and ran from the store and into a nearby empty building, where he hid until security guards located him, police said. The guards called police, and the man ran to a house on Hampden Road.

The man — subsequently identified as Johnson — approached a running vehicle in the home’s driveway and jumped into the passenger’s seat, police said.

A pregnant woman was at the wheel with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat.

According to police, the man implied he had a weapon and yelled “Go! Go! Go! They’re trying to kill me.” The terrified mother, unable to flee because her baby daughter was in the car, backed a few feet out of the driveway until a Norton Shores police cruiser blocked the vehicle. Johnson was then arrested.